This class surveys American sports writing across essays, memoirs, profiles, and longform journalism. We'll read work by athletes, critics, and cultural commentators from the twentieth century to today, with a focus on how identity, performance, and power shape the stories we tell about sports. Our central theme will be the interplay of personal experience and cultural critique: how writers blend memory, observation, and analysis to reflect on athletic life. The course welcomes students from a range of backgrounds: athletes reflecting on their lived experience, fans exploring their emotional connection to sports, and readers drawn to its broader cultural meaning. Together, we'll explore how these perspectives can and do speak to one another, as well as how the conversation has evolved alongside innovations in media and genre. Our goal is to foster a classroom where storytelling and critical thinking inform and challenge each other. Alongside weekly readings and discussion, students will write short responses that experiment with both creative and analytical forms. Workshopping will be a part of the course, and the final project may be a critical essay, personal narrative, or hybrid work. No prior experience in sports or sports writing is necessary, just a willingness to think, read, and write with care. Readings will include excerpts from critical texts and athlete memoirs, as well as pieces from The Year's Best Sports Writing, as well as selections from The Player's Tribune, The Athletic, The New Yorker, The Ringer, and other platforms. We'll also draw on podcast segments, documentary clips, and author interviews to expand our sense of what sports literature can be.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-CE
This class surveys American sports writing across essays, memoirs, profiles, and longform journalism. We'll read work by athletes, critics, and cultural commentators from the twentieth century to today, with a focus on how identity, performance, and power shape the stories we tell about sports. Our central theme will be the interplay of personal experience and cultural critique: how writers blend memory, observation, and analysis to reflect on athletic life. The course welcomes students from a range of backgrounds: athletes reflecting on their lived experience, fans exploring their emotional connection to sports, and readers drawn to its broader cultural meaning. Together, we'll explore how these perspectives can and do speak to one another, as well as how the conversation has evolved alongside innovations in media and genre. Our goal is to foster a classroom where storytelling and critical thinking inform and challenge each other. Alongside weekly readings and discussion, students will write short responses that experiment with both creative and analytical forms. Workshopping will be a part of the course, and the final project may be a critical essay, personal narrative, or hybrid work. No prior experience in sports or sports writing is necessary, just a willingness to think, read, and write with care. Readings will include excerpts from critical texts and athlete memoirs, as well as pieces from The Year's Best Sports Writing, as well as selections from The Player's Tribune, The Athletic, The New Yorker, The Ringer, and other platforms. We'll also draw on podcast segments, documentary clips, and author interviews to expand our sense of what sports literature can be.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.